12 amp setting automatically switches back to 8 amp

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Anonymous

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New 2016 Chevy Spark EV/electric vehicle owner here!

Ive noticed that after I switch the charging level from 8 to 12 amps before I plug in to a public charger it switches back to 8 after a certain period of time. I've also noticed that the charging often stops after various amounts of time before it is full ( stops after 30 seconds occasionally) and I have to replug and activate the charger. Are these two observations related or is the problem intrinsic to the charging station or the car?
 
"Public" chargers are always L2 / 240 V and they always charge the car at 3.3kW.
The 8A vs 12A setting is only for plugging in at 120V / L1. This is ~ 1kW or 1.4kW. I doubt you'll find public L1's.

When using the L1 charger that came with the car you will always have to do the finger tap dance to get a 12A charge at every shut down.
8A is the default setting. Nobody likes it.
Get used to it or get an L2 for your home and forget about it.

Look for the 'Immediate' charge setting on your charge configuration page.
There is a chance someone missed with 'Delayed' charge settings.

If it is set to Immediate and still acts up try a different L2 public charger to see if the first one is faulty.

The owner's manual is a good read !
 
wcchan said:
New 2016 Chevy Spark EV/electric vehicle owner here!
Welcome to having the best EV in the universe! ;) Well, at least it's the quickest charging EV in the known universe.

http://sparkev.blogspot.com/2015/12/sparkev-is-quickest-charging-ev-in-world.html

As Norton wrote, it's not clear what it is you're using.

L1=120V, which the charging current settings apply. I keep it at 8A, because 12A will result in twice the loss in home wiring (power is square of current). While efficiency might be better with 12A due to charger running for shorter time, I worry more about wire heating, especially when I'm charging at places unknown. Some homes have some screwy wiring, I wouldn't want to cause a fire. 8A is about that of low end vacuum cleaner, which should be fairly well characterized in most outlets.

L2AC is 240V. Since most (all?) L2 EVSE are 3.3kW or higher, you will get "full" charge power out of it, regardless of car setting. As Norton mentioned, timer plays a role with this as with L1, so check the timer setting. I use L2AC at home, not L1.

DCFC is public fast charger, 50 kW (15 times faster than L2, 50 times faster than L1). SparkEV 2014/2015 have some problems with DCFC charge port so that it disconnects and errors out at random. It seems warm weather makes it worse. There is a fix that dramatically improves the situation. I summarize it in my blog here.

http://sparkev.blogspot.com/2015/09/solution-problem-with-dc-fast-charge.html
 
In a PROPERLY wired home , if the 12 amp 120 VAC is pulling too much current , you will know it . You will trip a circuit breaker or blow a fuse . Otherwise , do not sweat it .

If the house is not properly wired , pay an electrician to run a dedicated run of Romex , install a dedicated circuit breaker and a dedicated receptacle .

God bless
Wyr
 
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